Dave Dickenson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dave Dickenson
Date of birth:	January 11, 1973 (1973-01-11) (age 35)
Place of birth:	Great Falls, Montana
Career information
Status:	active
CFL status:	Import
Position(s):	Quarterback
Height:	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:	190 lb (86 kg)
Jersey №:	12
College:	University of Montana
Organizations
As player:
1997–2000,2008-Present 2001 2002 2002 2002 2003–2007	Calgary Stampeders (CFL) San Diego Chargers (NFL) Seattle Seahawks (NFL) Miami Dolphins (NFL) Detroit Lions (NFL) British Columbia Lions (CFL)
Career highlights and Awards
Awards:	1995 Walter Payton Award 2000 CFL MOP 2006 Grey Cup MVP
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at CFL.ca

David Dickenson (born January 11, 1973 in Great Falls, Montana) is a professional Canadian football player with the Calgary Stampeders. Dickenson also played quarterback collegiately at the University of Montana, where he led the Montana Grizzlies to the 1995 NCAA I-AA college football championship.

[edit] High School Years

Dickenson attended C.M. Russell High School in Great Falls, Montana, was an excellent student, and lettered in football, basketball, and golf. In football, he led his teams to two State Championships. Dickenson graduated from C.M Russell High School in 1991 with a 4.0 grade-point average.

[edit] College career

Dickenson is considered by many to be the greatest quarterback ever to play for the University of Montana. He owns numerous Big Sky Conference and Montana records. By the time he graduated in 1995, Dickenson had the highest completion percentage, highest percentage of passes for a touchdown, and fewest interceptions per pass in NCAA Division I-AA history. In his college career (including playoff games) he completed 1,015 of 1,477 passes (68.7%) for 13,486 yards, with 116 touchdowns and only 26 interceptions, and was responsible for 137 total touchdowns (116 passing and 21 rushing).

In 1995, Dickenson's senior season, he threw for 5,676 yards in fifteen games, including 1,500 in four playoff games. After leading the Grizzlies to the I-AA national championship in 1995, Dickenson won the 1995 Walter Payton Award as the outstanding offensive player in Division I-AA.

In Montana, he is known as "Super Dave" and "The Legend of the Fall." His college jersey number, #15, was retired by the University of Montana. He is one of only two players so honored. In 1999, Dickenson was listed as the 12th best Athlete to ever come out of Montana in Sports Illustrated's 50th Anniversary Issue.^[1] In 2004, he was voted the most popular athlete from Montana in a Sports Illustrated poll.^[2]

[edit] Professional career

[edit] Calgary Stampeders

Dickenson began his professional career with the CFL Calgary Stampeders in 1997. His best year with the Stampeders was 2000, when Dickenson led the CFL in passing efficiency (114.1) and completion percentage (64.3%). During the 2000 season, Dickenson earned Player of the Week honors once, was named a CFL All-Star, and won the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award. He won a Grey Cup championship with Calgary in 1998.

[edit] National Football League

After generating interest from the NFL following his outstanding 2000 CFL season, Dickenson spent two seasons (2001-2002) in the National Football League. He spent the entire 2001 season as the third string QB for the San Diego Chargers, but was released by San Diego at the end of training camp in 2002 after a disappointing preseason in which he did not get to play in a game. He was then signed by the Seattle Seahawks and served as the third QB for two games before being released on September 24. In October, he signed with the Miami Dolphins following an injury to Jay Fiedler, and served as their third QB until December 3. He finished the season as the third QB for the Detroit Lions for their final two games after Joey Harringon was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat.

[edit] British Columbia Lions

Dickenson signed as a free agent with the British Columbia Lions in 2003. During the 2003 season, in which he led the Lions to an 11-7, fourth place finish in the CFL West Division, Dickenson's 36 touchdown passes and 5,496 yards were the second-highest single season marks in Lions' history behind Doug Flutie. Dickenson was named Offensive Player of the Month for August 2003, was the CFL Player of the Week in Week 5, and was awarded the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy as the CFL West Division's Most Outstanding Player.

In 2004, Dickenson began the season as the Lions' starting quarterback, but gave way to backup Casey Printers after suffering a knee injury. Printers put on a dominating performance for the rest of the season, but in the West Division Final against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, was forced to leave the game with a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter, with the score tied 14-14. Dickenson, having recovered from knee surgery and shared quarterbacking duties with Printers late in the season, played the rest of the game and threw a touchdown pass in the Lions' 27-24 overtime victory.^[3] Dickenson would start and play the entire Grey Cup game against the Toronto Argonauts, which the Lions lost by a score of 27-19.

Dickenson began the 2005 season embroiled in a quarterback controversy with Printers, who was named the 2004 CFL Most Outstanding Player. Dickenson emerged as the starter, and was instrumental in leading the Lions to an 11-0 start (where he played in 9 of the 11 games), en route to a 12-6 season finish. Dickenson set an all-time CFL record with a passing efficiency mark of 118.8. He fell just short of the attempts required to set a further mark with a 74.0% completion rate, due to 4 games missed because of a concussion. Dickenson was named CFL Player of the Month for both July and September, and was Player of the Week twice.

In 2006, he threw for 3032 yards and 22 touchdowns while only playing 13 games. He led the Lions to franchise's 5th Grey Cup title on November 19, 2006 with a 25-14 win over the Montreal Alouettes. Dickenson was named the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player. Dickenson's 2007 season was interrupted early by a serious concussion received on a hit from Saskatchewan's Fred Perry. Jarious Jackson eventually led the team to another first place finish and franchise record 13 wins, but the Lions were eliminated from the playoffs with a recovered Dickenson being called on to relieve Jackson. Dickenson was released from the BC Lions on November 26, 2007, after five seasons with the team.^[4]

[edit] Return to Calgary

On January 31, 2008, Dickenson signed as a free agent with the Calgary Stampeders, the team where he began his professional career, lives with his family, and where his brother Craig is the special-teams co-ordinator.^[5]

[edit] CFL Statistics

[edit] Passing

GP  Year  Team  Att  Comp  %     Yards  Long  TD  %    Int  %    Rating
6   1997  CAL    49   36   73.5   407    31   2   4.1   1   2.0  103.0
9   1998  CAL   113   79   69.9  1170    89   10  8.8   4   3.5  118.2
13  1999  CAL   343  219   63.8  3048    76   16  4.7  10   2.9   95.7
16  2000  CAL   493  317   64.3  4636    71   36  7.3   6   1.2  114.1
17  2003  BC    549  370   67.4  5496   103   36  6.6  12   2.2  112.7
6   2004  BC     98   62   63.3   967    68    8  8.2   2   2.0  114.6
12  2005  BC    342  253   74.0  3338    83   21  6.1   5   1.5  118.8
13  2006  BC    338  238   70.4  3032    92   22  6.5   7   2.1  111.2
5   2007  BC     87   56   64.4   740    51    3  3.4   3   3.4   88.3
102            2412 1630   67.6 22834   103  154  6.4  50   2.1  110.5

[edit] Rushing

GP  Year  Team  Att  Yards  Avg  Long  TD  Fum
6   1997  CAL    4    11    2.8   5    0   2
9   1998  CAL   15    66    4.4  24    3   1
13  1999  CAL   30   236    7.9  25    1   5
16  2000  CAL   56   309    5.5  36    5   8
17  2003  BC    44   311    7.1  21    2   7
6   2004  BC    12    78    6.5  16    0   1
12  2005  BC    49   299    6.1  24    3   1
13  2006  BC    32   195    6.1   0    0   1
5   2007  BC     9    44    4.9   ?    0   0
102            251  1549    6.2  36   14  26

[edit] Notes and references

1. ^ The 50 Greatest Montana Sports Figures. SportsIllustrated.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
2. ^ Eric Francis (2004-11-22). T.O. in sorry state. SLAM! Sports. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
3. ^ Canadian Press (2004-11-14). O'Mahony kicks Lions into Grey Cup. TSN.ca. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
4. ^ Ron Sudlow (2007-11-26). LIONS RELEASE DAVE DICKENSON. CFL.ca. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
5. ^ "Dave Dickenson returns to Calgary", cfl.ca, 2008-01-31. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 

[edit] External links

• BC Lions Official Website - Player Profile: Dave Dickenson #12